Field effect transistors (FETs) having a gas-sensitive gate have long been researched and used as gas sensors, for instance. Field effect based semiconductor components afford the advantage of very small dimensions, low unit costs and high integrability. For applications at high temperatures, for example, the use of silicon carbide or other semiconductors having a high band gap is known, in order to avoid the intrinsic conduction dominant starting from approximately 250° C. in the case of silicon.
The document DE 10 2009 029 621 A1 discloses a detection device and a method for detecting a gas. In particular, said document describes metal-insulator-semiconductor structures (MIS structures) that are used for detecting gases. In that case, a capacitance structure is used which can consist of at least one gas-sensitive electrode, at least one dielectric, a semiconducting material and a conductive back electrode.
The article W. Zhu et al. Amorphous ferroelectric (Ba0.67Sr0.33)Ti0.02O3 thin films with enhanced H2 induced interfacial polarization potential, Journal of Applied Physics, 84(9), pages 5134-5139, 1998, furthermore discloses using specific dielectric layers without a semiconductor substrate in a sensor element, and using DC leakage current as a measurement signal.